Navigating the Economic Landscape

Lara Logan: “This Is Terrorism” and “Our Way of Life is Under Attack”

Posted by Larry Doyle on October 10, 2012 6:05 PM |

In writing here at Sense on Cents, I try to stay true to my mission of promoting truth, transparency, and integrity while navigating the economic landscape. That said, every now and then a story or clip comes along that I believe is so powerful and compelling that it warrants my highlighting it.

Today a clip of this magnitude crossed my desk and I feel obligated to share it.

With developments in the Middle East and surrounding region very fluid and a Presidential debate focused on foreign policy on the horizon, please find 20 minutes to view this exceptionally chilling clip in which CBS News Lara Logan lays out in spades what is really going on in Afghanistan.

How so? In regard to our engagement in Afghanistan, Logan says “there’s a major lie being propagated about the real situation.” Ms. Logan has unquestioned credibility. Some may recall she was brutally assaulted in Egypt in early 2011.

Believe me. You will want to watch this clip.

I hope you will agree that all Americans should view this clip. To that end, please share this.

I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.

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Annie

Thank you for sharing that. I really do think it is vital that everyone sees that.

While the left wants to pretend that there are a few “hot spots” to be cleaned up, the Muslim Brotherhood and all like thinkers….terrorists…. have been emboldened by America’s weakness under Obama. Good grief, we are now sending what should be our stealth fighting forces in with bull horns! Or like Vaughn’s parents have said, we are handcuffing them because of politics! It is a disastrous time to have someone like Obama in office. When the left talks about women’s rights, they simply mean western women’s rights to an abortion. As our lovely President tweeted, “Vote like your lady parts depend on it…because they kind of do!” They don’t mean the girls and women who are forced out of schools under these radical Islamists, or shot in the face like the girl this week.

And you will have lefties questioning whether or not I’m a woman….don’t worry I’m used to it. You must not have any opinion of your own that disagrees with their pigeon holing or the left will ridicule you. Saul Alinsky will be haunting us for years to come.

iDONALD

Annie, if you could find it in yourself to use temperate language, as opposed to Rush Limbaugh-isms, your opinions would bee taken somewhat more seriously.As it is, you come across as hysterical rather than thoughtful.

That is my view.

Annie

I’ll add that to my list Donald.

I’ve never actually listened to Rush Limbaugh, but I think I might just give him a listen!

LD

The attacks continue…

A masked gunman assassinated a Yemeni security official for the U.S. Embassy in a drive-by shooting in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, officials said.

The Yemeni officials said the killing bore the hallmarks of an al Qaeda attack, but it was too early to determine if the group was behind it. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

Thank you so much for sharing this important video. Too bad that after all she went through Lara Logan couldn’t trust her own network to report these facts.

Applause for Ms. Logan for having the courage and integrity to make sure it got out anyway. And the same to you for making sure it spreads.

Mike

First, I applaud Ms. Logan’s efforts and courage in getting this story out. In an era of blogs, tweets and texts, she is truly a journalist in every sense of the word.

While it is easy to lay much of what is happening on the Obam administration, and they must shoulder some of the blame, I have to ask WHY did the Bush adminstration pull back from Afghanistan, ignore the Pakistani government’s support of our 9/11 attackers and focus on Iraq?

Neither candidate is offering anything on this issue except sound bites and rhetoric. This has been building since the 1990s and all either party does, or has done for the last 20 years, is blame the other one for “letting it happen”.

And in the meantime, the only certainty is our soldiers are dying. That’s not a “leftie” or a “rightie” opinion. It’s just sad.

Annie

Mushareff was in office in Pakistan until 2008 and was closely allied with the US and the allied powers in the War on Terror. You will not find one area of the Middle East, Southeast or Central Asia or North Africa that does not have some radical elements, but if you view each government as siding with those elements, you are missing the big picture in a very complex area of the world.

At the time we went into Iraq, even Richard Butler, though he opposed the war, had written a book, “The Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Crisis of Global Security”. Every one from Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, diplomats at the UN and weapons inspectors weighed in saying Saddam was a huge threat to world stability. No one was saying that, nor did they have reason to, about Pakistan, under Mushareff.

In 1989 I read a very interesting story called “From Beirut to Jerasalem” by Thomas Friedman, in which he made a very good point. The Middle East plays chess while America plays checkers. I think this is what is happening still.

The radical elements that are nomadic and who fled Afghanistan after 9/11 may be all over the Middle East, Africa and Asia right now. (Not meaning to say all radicals are nomadic.)

Of Course Obama’s professor, Edward Said, was so adept at ridiculing anything that had been written about the Middle East and Asia, that many of the fine books that had been written were then scoffed at. But Said (SA-eed) in his own books at times treated “Muslim” as if it were a race of people, so I have my own opinions on that guy and what motivates him. He followed Arafat’s lead and claimed to be born a Palestinian refugee from Jerasalem, when in reality both were born in Cairo. (Said is sometimes called the intellectuals terrorist. A Coptic, with a wealthy American father, no less.)

It was a dinner party for Said, where Obama was speaking and apparently praising Rashid Khalidi that the LA Times refused to release the video during the last election. Khalidi has been thought to be a member of the PLO. Of course he was also a “refugee” from Palestine. It was awkward that so many leftist professors and friends of Obama’s were “refugee’s” belonging to the PLO, when it was on a terrorist watch list.

We need to quit playing checkers and start playing chess, and Obama is part of the problem, not the solution.

Vince

that was a good one from you my friend……….

Mike

Let me first point out that, though I lean left politically, I do not pigeon hole people, nor do I ridicule them for having an opinion different than mine. I welcome it because it’s part of what makes America the best country in the world. The Founding Fathers weren’t in lockstep agreement on things either.

Additionally, I was 100% in favor of going into Afghanistan after 9/11 because that’s where Al-Qaeda was hiding. As a country, we did NOTHING to deserve what happened on 9/11. And when you get shot at, you shoot back, period.

All I’m asking is why we apparently pulled back from Afghanistan when it seemed Bin Laden was still there, ignored Pakistan when there were reports that Bin Laden was hiding there, and decided to focus on Iraq.

If we’d finished what we started in the first Gulf War and tossed Saddam out then, things might have been different. I’m glad that we finally did get rid of him because he was a threat. It just seems we should have flushed Bin Laden out first and then taken care of Saddam.

In any case, thank you for a great discussion. I hope to join in on others and that you’ll realize I’m not a stereotypical lefty.

I love our country. And like most conservatives, I’m just trying to find ways to make it better. When you think about it, we have the same goal, we just disagree on how.

Happy Friday.

LD

Mike,

Your comments and perspectives are very much appreciated and welcomed here. I agree with you that diversity of opinion much like diversity in all other parts of our society is our greatest strength in America.

What is all too often missing and quells the voices of those who would otherwise add much to our national debate?

Respect.

Many segments within our nation need to learn that real patriotism compels us to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable. Those at the highest levels of government need to learn and practice this lesson. As a nation we are weaker because our leaders are not statesmen but merely politicians.

Annie

I really have been trying to be respectful. Sorry if I came across otherwise to anyone here who does not want me re-educated.

If anyone here leans left enough to want me re-educated, via the re-writing of history or re-education camps (or dumbing down), taking God out of all public places, thinking I am the one in the wrong for not choosing an abortion, or who views me as no more than my “lady parts”,etc. etc. then I can not be sorry for my lack of respect. I don’t respect the leftists agenda.

Annie

First, I should have clarified one thing. I intentionally use the term “left” and not Democrat, because I realize that not all democrats are what I view as leftists. I have been a registered Democrat most of my adult life. Two of my adult children worked at Universities and one resigned their position in housing, because the far left policies have gotten so extreme in that setting. My daughter is a Christian. The past few years I have been battered by what I once viewed as my own party. So, now I am getting quite outspoken after having been battered. Hell hath no fury…

It is apparent to me that the folks here are not leftists….some democrats yes, but leftists, no. Go to the Daily Kos and read what they have to say about reeducation camps for the “right” and you can see a difference between the leftists way of thinking, and yours. It, by no means is civil debate on ideas that most of America still holds dear.

I view Obama as a leftist. His entire upbringing, his college associations, in his own words in his books, his college Professors, the people he has surrounded himself with are all further left than most Democrats.

I wasn’t thinking YOU were pigeonholing me….that comment was made prior to the beginning of our discussion and was aimed at the left.

I’ll give you an example of what I am talking about.

I support gay civil unions. I think our government should enact laws that treat us all equally. Government is not and should not be a religious entity, but like many of our Founding Fathers, I do believe in God but believe we should be equal in the eyes of the law as American citizens. Our Founders believed in freedom of thought and conscience.

The reason I did not say I support gay “marriage” is because I don’t think our government should be in the marriage business….period. Marriage is a church function and had the government stayed out of it to begin with, marriages would be done in churches and civil unions of all kinds could be done by the state if they really feel they need that extra little tax.

When I have had this debate with most republicans, at best they have said that they thought I had some good points, the worst they have said is that I didn’t understand the Founding Father’s vision. To which I can usually show the abundance of Freedom of Thought type quotes from our founders.

The left has just come at me with ruthless attacks, calling me a bigot. And because I am pro life, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, I have had leftist women accuse me of being a man! I have been called stupid because I am a Christian.

I, too, have enjoyed the civil debate with you here. Please forgive if I came across attacking YOU in any way. But I won’t be giving any apologies for my views on the leftists. I am more than just my “lady parts”, my ancestry is mixed race, I am not a bigot because I believe differently than Obama. I voted for Bill Clinton…twice.

But Obama is not the uniter that Clinton was, he is a divider. Bill Clinton wanted to help people up, Obama has wanted to divide and conquer.

As a Christian I am tired of Obama making coveting out to be a noble thing.

I have studied a lot of American history, both old writings and new and I am tired of the left, as a stated goal by leftist professors, of rewriting history.

They are teaching Thomas Jefferson respected Islam because he had a Koran.

Good grief! He was dealing with the terrorism of his day, the Pirates of the Barbary Coast, so he went on a fact finding mission and while in London he bought a Koran. He read it, decided not to pay the tax demanded of the “infidels”, and dealt with them via force! He had that Koran Ellison got sworn in on because he wanted to thoroughly educate himself! Not because he had some great admiration of Islam. As a matter of fact he thought it rather brutal!

But, you know if you repeat the lie often enough….I’m a believer in truth, I don’t want my grandchildren taught a political agenda in their history classes, and I do not believe that activism is as important as science and math, as Professors like Bill Ayers believe. I truly think we need to stop the far left before it is too late.

Annie

Sorry Mike, I completely spaced answering your question.

I think the killing of bin laden was really only a symbolic thing. Killing him was important for the American psyche, but not so important in the grand scheme of things. I really think they were more concerned about what terrorist groups could get from Saddam Hussein in the way of weapons of mass destruction, especially after Hussein offered bin laden sanctuary when bin laden was removed from country by the Sudanese government. Of course bin laden scoffed at him, but it was a political move on Hussein’s part to do that. Just like the pictures of him with his prayer rugs were just political.

If you look at the history of the Muslim Brotherhood and their writings, you will see how long a war we will have to fight if we want to be free of terrorism. It is going to be the longest war of our history.

Read some of Sayid/Said Qutb’s writings if you can. He came to America in the 1950’s and went back home appalled at the liberalism of America. Read about the town of Hama in Syria if you can. When the father Assad (the Assad’s are Alawites) was in power the Muslim Brotherhood, from who most of al qaeda’s followers learn, got to agitating in Hama. Assad massacred them by sending in bulldozers to bulldoze a city. If I remember right, there were almost 20,000 killed, or more. Fast forward to today. Jordan who has been under a benevolent monarchy, rather than the ruthless Assad, is slowly losing control in areas of Jordan. There are reports of doctor’s going around to homes of women who have not been sexually mutilated, to “circumcise” them. This is one of our (historically) best and most westernized allied countries in that region.

So back to your question, why did we leave Afghanistan when we did….we had met our objective of removing the Taliban from power. bin laden could have been anywhere from Banda Aceh to Pakistan to Afghanistan. Though probably not in Saudi Arabia or Sudan, since he was not welcome there.

The problems we are facing…..we can’t be brutal dictator’s, our consciences would not allow what Assad did. The Muslim Brotherhood and all terrorist groups are using “democracy” to take over and then impose their strict, radical, versions of Islam. They want to return to the “glory days” of their caliphate, where Christians, Jews, secularists, etc., were killed, converted or enslaved. They do not fight for a country, they fight for a Middle East, North African Caliphate.

I think the only thing we can do at this point is make sure that weapons of mass destruction are out of their hands.

Saddam Hussein was slick. When the UN weapons inspectors were told that his private residences were off limits. He built 13 new Palaces. Traces of weapons were found at every single one of them. (I was just very thankful when all the uranium made it to Canada with no fanfare.)

Read Qutb’s writings. The Muslim Brotherhood views him as one of their most influential thinkers. There are writings going back to the 1920’s that I have read, but unfortunately I can’t remember all the names. Read about the Bosnian Muslims who sided with Hitler, read about the conflicts in Chechnya…..

Think about this, in the 2oth Century, there were two incidents of piracy of American merchant ships, one being the Mayaguez, over which was fought the last battle of the Vietnam war.

Now Nato is putting out weekly pirated vessel updates, many of them American. Flash back to Thomas Jefferson’s Barbary Coast…..

We need force on the small fronts where we are able, to send the message we will not put up with this kind of behavior and we need to keep the weapons of mass destruction out of their hands, otherwise, our only choices will be brutal, and Americans don’t have the stomach for that kind of war.

LD

Annie,

The depth of your knowledge and manner of delivery are simply outstanding.
Please keep bringing your insights and perspectives here. This blog and those who come here are better for it.

Thank you.

Annie

Thank you!

Cliff

She’s an airhead. Getting raped doesn’t make you a foresign affairs expert.

LD

Real intelligent comment there, Cliff.

Did anybody make the case that one situation made a clear cut case for the other? Although I guess I have to ask the question. Have you ever been raped or sexually assaulted?

Are we to assume you have spent time in the same regions where she has done her investigative journalism. Please enlighten us.

Or does Ms. Logan’s commentary simply run counter to your political leanings?

Please visit and comment often.

Cliff

Why does whether I have spent time in the same regions as Lara Logan make any difference? That’s tantamount to an old football coach demanding of a young reporter, “What do you know – have you ever played the game?”

The facts are pretty clear. Logan is a lightweight compared to most investigative journalists and only appears on 60 Minutes due to her perceived attractiveness. Her questions are generally softballs, and she had no credibility among critics, her peers and the thinking public until she was allegedly assaulted. I used the word “allegedly” because there is no proof whatsoever it took place. I earlier called her an airhead because she was alone with only a cameraman and no security in the midst of an out of control mob. No thinking reporter would have ventured there. Even the brawniest of field reporters travels those areas with an armed security team.

She deserves no publicity whatsoever. If you want to cover a journalist who was legitimately harmed, Mr. Doyle, I suggest you check in with bob Woodward, who continues to recover from hideous injuries suffered while he was traveling with armed escorts.

LD

Rather than bring anything of substance to the discussion in terms of Ms. Logan’s message, you resort to little more than a gutless attacking of the messenger.

A pathetic but unfortunately not uncommon tactic found in many segments of our nation today.

Too bad.

Cliff

Re-read my post. I didn’t attack anyone but Logan. However, you just attacked me.

I stumbled upon this site by accident when researching “yield.” I see now it’s far right wing. I won’t be back.

LD

My point exactly. You resort to attacking the messenger Ms. Logan rather than refuting her points with any meaningful substance.

I attacked you? Really?

You would seem to bruise easily so I will just say … Buh-bye!!

Cliff

Also, by showing your love of Logan and your contempt by omission of the brave Bob Woodward, you prove how worthless this site is.

Cliff

This site = The Tea Party of Finance. And that’s not a compliment.

Ugh. It’s mindsets like yours that have caused Washington to be completely dysfunctional. So wallow in your name calling and your love of all thing Goldwater-like.

LD

Cliff,

By your own admission you just got here while I have been writing at length on a whole host of topics for the last 4 years. Rather than engaging in a verbal sparring with you, I will do you the favor of providing a link to a body of work which I collectively define as Wall Street Washington Incest.

Those links should keep you busy for 8-10 weeks. Chew on that and then come back to us.

Annie

It was me, not LD, who asked if you had “been there”. Have you ever been sexually attacked? Have you ever been to the Middle East? Have you ever interviewed a terrorist? Relevant questions, to determine whether you are qualified to call her an “airhead”.

Your bias is showing much more so than LD’s, in my opinion.

Annie

Lara Logan has been, literally, on the ground in nations where we must be in order to understand this long war and what we are fighting, for many years. She has been braver than most of us would be in interviewing terrorists.

I thought she had a very good point about journalism having changed after Daniel Pearl.

Have you been there Cliff?

Shannon

Rather than respond, I’d prefer to see Cliff’s remark removed as offensive. It deserves no response. Troll.

Annie

Shannon,
I would normally agree with you, but there is a sad irony here. In one of my comments above I had been talking about the left and how they attack and ridicule and view women as no more than their “lady parts”, and how they care nothing about real education, then along came Cliff to prove my point for me.

I just always hope that maybe a bell could be rung…..but, you are right it probably didn’t deserve a response.

fred

LD,

So you thought you were going to take it easy today; church, family time, football. Not so fast!

Are the financial mkts gearing up for war? There are some strange trends developing in key markets; strong dollar, strong bonds, higher oil, lower gold.

Iran is now experiencing hyper-inflation (>50% inflation m/m) the Iranian rial has recently lost over 65% of it’s value.

Turkey has militarized against Syria and anti-American sentiment/terrorism has been picking up globally, as per Ms. Logan.

Just last week, a topic of discussion in the VP debate, al quaeda operatives attacking our soldiers then receiving safe harbor in Pakistan for the winter. (Do you think the Paks are still “smarting” over our take out of Osama bin Laden in their sovereign, don’t they have nukes?)

Just Friday, Isreal PM Netanyahu was forced to deny that he had agreed to a Gollan Heights withdrawal in a US brokered initiative (2 years ago), predicated upon the success of “Arab Spring” in Syria and Iran.

Lets not forget the EU problems, the PIGs are beginning to openly blame Germany for exploitation while the Germans are becoming increasingly resentful of providing bailout $$.

Will Iranian’s hyper-inflation spread globally via the oil market? Is embedded liberalism at yet another crossroad?

One has to wonder 1)how large of a role Fed QE has played in all this and 2)is the Fed truly an independent agency acting upon a dual mandate or just another active participant in the Washington-Wall St incest, (a global phenomenon via IMF policies)?

Annie

Fred,

You asked, “Do you think the Paks are still “smarting” over our take out of Osama bin Laden in their sovereign, don’t they have nukes?”

I have an answer for you and a question to pose.

The whole Pakistan issue was presented by Joe Biden prior to the election in 2008 (and in his debate) in such a manner as to score political points against Bush. Biden knew full well, or at least he should, claiming to be an expert of sorts on the Middle East and surrounding areas, that the government in Pakistan had provided us with invaluable intel, but the Pakistani government also has (and had) the same problems many countries there have with radicals, at times even within their own government. I don’t think Biden knew or maybe he didn’t care, that the left would grab onto that and actually be calling for action against Pakistan, when a lot of them had been so opposed to the actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. That the right would grab onto that and make Bush out to be a fool, too, was more Biden’s motive.

The problem is, Biden just further muddied the waters, for political gain.

The Pakistani government was not at that time, nor was it when Obama got in office, our enemy.

My question: What do you believe would happen if we were doing drone strikes and flying into Iranian airspace to seize bin laden if he was there?

Yes, Pakistan is a sovereign nation, with nukes. If you think Obama has been doing drone strikes and seizing bin laden without the Pakistani government turning a blind eye, then you are not understanding the situation.

If you trust the reporting of Bob Woodward, in 2008 Hayden went to visit with Zardari, the new President of Pakistan. Bush had taken out several high profile al qaeda targets with drone strikes, at the end of his term, but one of them had had “collateral” damage, of civilian casualties, and Bush was quite upset by that. Bush swore it would never happen again. So, when Hayden went to visit Zardari under the Obama administration, Zardari told him, about al qaeda, “Kill the seniors. Collateral damage worries you Americans. It does not worry me.”

Zardari knows that the Taliban, al qaeda, or name your radical group, intentionally keeps civilians around them. It is one of the tactics they use to win their battle against us.

The electorate in this country needs to understand the chess game being played, and people like Biden should not be misleading the electorate simply for political gain.

And if you continue to view Pakistan as the radicals, then how can you understand that thousands of Pakistani’s are rallying for Malala Yousufzai?

We, as Americans, are so used to living in a state, rooting for our own teams….baseball, football, whatever, that we truly don’t understand the complexity of the Middle East, North Africa, etc. We generally don’t view “the enemy” as being in our midst, unless, of course it is the rival football team.

Annie

Correction….I was not meaning Americans are too busy with sports. I was meaning that we view the world in that manner…our team, our state, our country. And that we have not had to live with the enemy in our midst, such as many in Pakistan do.

fred

Annie,

I don’t consider myself an expert on the Middle East, but I’ll play along. The US is seen as powerful but lacking resolve. Most countries, in the region, act as a “friend to our face” and an “enemy to our back”, Pakistan being no different.

As to your question, how would Iran react to drone strike or a violation of their sovereign borders/air space?

I think their response would vary with the perceived magnitude of an assault. From greater to lesser, I wouldn’t rule out a missile attack on Isreal or US military bases in the region, a naval blockade of the Straight of Hormuz, the solicitation of a Chinese boycott of US treasury auctions, “threats” of retaliation to spike oil prices, a pickup in military manuevers in the region or an increase in frequency and/or magnitude of global terrorist acts.

Iran would choose not to be seen as being weak or unwilling to retaliate but would probably try to avoid a direct confrontation with the U.S, while Pakistan has yet to react.

Annie

Ooops…Fred, I responded to you without hitting the reply button….

Annie

Fred,
I could agree there are many similarities among Arab Nations. But, “most countries in the region” and “friend to our face, enemy to our back” comments are what I have been trying to convey DOES NOT work, they are vague generalizations, when you are viewing the Middle East, if you are really trying to understand it.

Think of a huge jigsaw puzzle. If you are missing piece’s of a jigsaw puzzle, you don’t have the complete picture. Once you have all the piece’s, then the picture changes on you, the piece’s change, and you have to start all over again. That is the Middle East.

I started reading books trying to understand the Middle East when I was very young. I couldn’t even tell you how many news stories and books I’ve read (countless), and I don’t consider myself an expert either. But I do believe people should try to learn about these issues, if they are to have even the vaguest understanding of events.

The jigsaw puzzle, simplified:
The Muslim Brotherhood’s writing…Qutb and al Banna and those, they are what bin laden was educated on in his youth. The Muslim Brotherhood don’t particularly like the jihadi’s because they think the jihadi’s could ruin their grand plan of a huge Caliphate. (The MB don’t want to do something to start a larger war with the US). So they kick people like bin laden out. The MB themselves put on a suit and come lecture at American Universities. Stealthy. All the while the leader’s in the Middle East don’t want a Caliphate, they would then be out of power. Jihadi’s are running in and out of countries, the MB are organizing in order to step into power in countries. The problem is, if you read the writing, the radicals have most of the same objectives, just differ in how they want to get there.

The populations, many of whom want an education for their daughters, who don’t want to be sexually mutilated, who, like a Saudi reporter once told me, just wants to be able to go to a movie and sit with his wife, are all caught in the mix.

If we don’t cast our lot, to some extent, with countries such as Pakistan(whose main concern is it’s nuclear standoff with India) and which allows us to kill the leadership of al qaeda (when they cannot control those groups within their own borders) then what do we do? Give the radicals their caliphate? Get tough on Pakistan which has a huge westernized population?

No. We keep the BIG weapons out of the radicals hands. We focus on killing the leadership of groups like al qaeda and we keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

Pakistan has yet to react? I think they reacted long ago when they gave us permission to kill the “seniors”. bin laden was most definitely a “senior”.

fred

Annie,

I’m sorry, I don’t agree with you. Of course the situation is more complicated than a sound bite but a sound bite can be useful if worded effectively.

Take the principal of truth, certainly truth is more complicated than a single word but a single word can still be useful in describing the principal.

When I stated that Pakistan has yet to react, my reference was post bin Laden and more as a question as to whether former loyalties will continue into the future.

My knowlege is based more on personal experience, I married a Iranian women, learned farsi to communicate with her family and have traveled to Iran and other areas of the middle east only a handful of times.

I have come to realize that most parents, both here and in the Middle East, share the same hope of peace and prosperity for their children and wish that peace wasn’t so complicated!

Khuda hafez.

Annie

I agree totally with your last paragraph!

And since you really didn’t state what, exactly, you don’t agree with me on, I guess we will leave it at agreeing to disagree.